Are there more billionaires in Malaysia?

AT a time when most of us are filling up our tax forms and trying to figure out why the taxman must take away so much of our income, we get the news that the number of millionaires in the US is on the rise again after taking a dive in 2008.
The number of US households with a net worth of at least US$1mil grew 16% last year to 7.8 million, according to Spectrem Group. That number peaked in 2007 at 9.2 million, then fell to 6.7 million the next year as stock prices and real estate values tumbled.
According to Spectrem, a Chicago-based financial consulting firm, the super-rich got richer last year too. The number of households worth US$5mil or more increased 17% to 980,000.
Spectrem Group president George H. Walper Jr called the growth in America’s population of millionaires “welcome news for an economy still working to recover”.
Is the number of millionaires in Malaysia also on the uptrend? Unlike the US, which just loves to do surveys and compile statistics about anything under the sun, we tend to be reserved about how much we are worth.
Interestingly, in the just released Forbes List of the World’s Richest, it was reported that Malaysia has the most number of billionaires in South-East Asia.
So there must certainly be even more millionaires in the country.
The taxman certainly knows who they are – but is still trying to persuade a number of them to settle their dues.
I wonder if they have made much progress with the top defaulter, a millionaire from Penang who supposedly owes the Inland Revenue Board more than RM36mil.
Actually, when we already have a good number of billionaires in our midst, becoming a millionaire seems to be much less elusive.
I remember when I started working, the ultimate dream was to earn a four-figure salary, but I am sure ordinary working folks these days are thinking five or six figures instead.
For most of us, however, being a millionaire is really out of the question unless we strike the lottery or take part in Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? and win the top prize.
Still, we all have our dreams. The thing is not to let the dream turn into a nightmare.
It would be a shame if after much toil, we succeed in joining the millionaires’ club only to realise that wealth gives little satisfaction or, worse, comes with a web of intrigues.
In contrast, I have a friend who recently confided that he has finally bought a piece of property, his only asset, in Malaysia. It was a burial plot.
This man is a picture of contentment and through his involvement in various community services, has touched countless other lives.
He is one of the richest men I have the privilege of calling a friend.

● Deputy executive editor Soo Ewe Jin notes that while money can buy some happiness, it has no bearing on lasting joy. But the 96% of Malaysian youth who desire to be millionaires by the age of 35 may not agree with him.

(The Star 14.3.2010)